Is there any way to get Photobucket to propagate changes? I just made some corrections to a couple of the logos and re-uploaded the corresponding images, but for some reason, they're still appearing as before and it's kind of annoying. Photobucket has had this problem for years and I don't know how to fix it.

EDIT: Fixed it by moving the images in question to another album, but I shouldn't have to do that every time.

Responses in italics.

An update on my progress through listening to the sixteen listed bands

• Amon Amarth 0%
• Arsis 26%
• Before the Dawn 40%
• Blood Stain Child 100%
• Dark Tranquillity 1%
• DevilDriver 15%
• Disarmonia Mundi 100%
• Eternal Tears of Sorrow 15%
• In Flames 72%
• In Vain 56%
• Insomnium 100%
• Ne Obliviscaris 0%
• Neaera 42%
• Omnium Gatherum 30%
• Swallow the Sun 20%
• Words of Farewell 100%

Almost done with In Flames. Just got done with their single, The Quiet Place. I'll get through Soundtrack to Your Escape tomorrow, I think.

While I don't hold the animosity for it that a lot of others do, I can see why Reroute to Remain is so often panned, but at the same time, I can see why In Flames did what they did. I'll explain:

When I listened to Whoracle, Colony, and Clayman, I listened to some good music. I won't say that they necessarily stuck with me since, again, I came into their work late, and with Come Clarity, at that. I feel like I finally understand their impact on both melodeath and melodic metalcore, and how their sound, not so much Dark Tranquillity's, became the archetypal template to reference for these genres, where the latter was, and is, the more enigmatic and esoteric of the two surviving Kings in a sense. It's easier to follow In Flames' example.

Be that as it may, I would theorise that In Flames was facing a crisis in that all three of those albums, and even, to some extent, The Jester Race, were altogether very similar. Little changed between them. While I will not claim that this was In Flames' express intention, the unfortunate reality is that Reroute to Remain needed to happen, lest they find themselves going through an endless cycle of repeated albums, where the only real difference is the production quality. Dark Tranquillity did this too with Projector (which I've yet to hear, admittedly, and that will be rectified soon), except that they chose to experiment with less mainstream ideas.

I liked some of the material on Reroute, but I will agree that some of the things they drew from to create it were disturbing: hints of metalcore breakdowns and nu-metal structure, an unnecessarily large reliance on synthesisers and electronic breaks, Fridén's crooning cleans that sounded like a cross between that of King Diamond and Jonathan Davis of Korn, and a lot of other odd elements. In short, they took a bit too much from the American mainstream, and it's a bit jarring after listening to their albums from the previous decade, and even after listening to their later offerings which, while still controversial, were nonetheless far more modest. Thankfully, what they took from most was straight and simple alternative metal, which is sacrilege to purists, but I, for one, am glad that they shed most of the rest by the time they released Come Clarity than vice-versa.

Interesting evolution, I suppose.

Not a single comment on Be'lakor yet? Talk about missing out

Response in italics.

If you got room for one more, might be worth checking out In Dread Response. I haven't read every single comment in this thread so if I'm reiterating, that's my bad. They've got a bit of a Gothenburg style but they throw in some ambient and really somber passages in their music too (i.e. the song Last Avenues).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nErWVt5K64E - I paint the World in Solitude

They actually draw nothing from Insomnium directly, a fact stated by the band several times. What these two bands have in common is influence of early material from bands such as Dark Tranquillity and Opeth (also stated by the band). The rest is overall fondness to melancholy and somewhat similar guitar melodies. I bet you'll dig Stone's Reach eventually, them completely blowing your mind is another matter

Is that so? If such is the truth, then I retract my previous statements that suggest that they drew directly from those bands.

Be that as it may, it would still be redundant to have them. They don't seem to bring anything to the table that Insomnium haven't already, apart from consistently long compositions. Keep in mind that it's not like I don't like them, because I like them a lot. However, I could say that about the majority of the suggestions given in this thread. It is only those that I consider to be the most outstanding or classic that I take away from this. Otherwise, more than half of my library would be melodeath bands, and I'd get bored with all of the clones pretty quick.



Response in italics.

Just got through Soundtrack to Your Escape.

Yeah, mmmuuuuuch better. Retained a lot more of their actual melodeath than Reroute to Remain, which was just... ridiculous.

EDIT: Also, did Before the Dawn just say, "Fuck this," after 2006, go straight back into the studio after The Ghost, increase the competency of their gothic tendencies tenfold, and seamlessly add melodeath into the mix? Because Deadlight basically exists in another plane of existence in terms of quality and songwriting compared to everything they released previously... and I rather liked their previous material too. o.o

I've always found the concept of melodic death metal strangely abstract and inconsistent.....Death's last two albums were fairly melodic, but they're never referred to with the title.

I'll tell you this, you have some pretty weird associations when it comes to certain bands. Still, I will try to give you couple of recommendations. I did read through the whole thread, but I might recommend something that was already posted so I apologize in advance.

Dominia. Russian melodeath, keyboards, violins. Nuff said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t5uq9arQvs

Skyfire. Sympho (but don't let that deceive you) melodeath. Awesome melodies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgaqYKPz ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDko9C25WnA

In Mourning. Imagine rawer hybrid of Insomnium and Opeth, with a bit of Be'lakor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ4ioEQ7okM

Anoreksi. Turkish melodeath band, fairly new. Very Insomnium/Before the Dawn-ish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlxm3jh9R3Q

Neptune. Italian modern melodeath, think Disarmonia Mundi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0I1ZxNBkkI

Scar Symmetry. Obvious recommendation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5aB9bW5B00

Solution .45. Same as above.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq9Sh2qZNj4

Zero Degree. Fairly new band, three guitarists, heavy 90s In Flames worship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9deHxk9 ... re=related

Deadlock. Decent melodeath with some awesome clean female vox. A very hit and miss kind of band with somewhat inconsistent songwriting, but when they actually get it right it's quite magnificent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1ZB9wef5g8

Degradead. Modern melodeath, think modern In Flames with a bit of original touch. Great vocalist and really nice guitar work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLzwW_4gs_0

Mercenary. Very unique vibe, you might dig it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGbHt3Wzws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ov5SSVobm0

Divine Souls. In Flames "clone", think Colony album. They have two albums and both are excellent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC502WKo ... re=related

Meridian. Newcomer band, they released an EP recently. It starts a bit cheesy with guitars, but believe me it's worth it, so listen through the whole song. Great keyboard interlude in the latter half of the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BQFN4DLThI

I would also strongly urge you to give another listen to Noumena and Mors Principium Est. For MPE go with The Unborn record. I know that it feels very "mechanic" at first, but every song on that album has great melodies and hooks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkOwMeUtJJY

Also check out other projects by Before the Dawn vocalist (Dawn of Solace, Black Sun Aeon).

Going out a limb here and reccing later era God Dethroned, more specifically Passiondale. Blackened DM that draws a rather prominent Gothenburg influence. Their 90's era stuff, excluding The Christhunt, has a pretty melodic edge to it as well, albeit it's more or less in the same vein as the likes of Unanimated, Dissection, etc. but more aggressive if you ask me. I'll link both eras.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klnma7-ZPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA7g2K9PlYw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8HFY24YoxM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTt1wkpvegc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Il3v8vtCsM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfluH7Ga1ZU

If Disillusion hasn't been recced yet, I suggest you look into them. Back to Times of Splendor is a progressive/melodeath masterpiece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNrJAPNwQe0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reBf2eNZ ... re=related

Lastly, I'll throw in Belarussian outfit, Lost Regrets. I always found them to be quite catchy, while at the same time I've heard people just refer to them as run of the mill melodeath. It's up to you, I suppose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV3x2-yr9b8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKe74-x5AK0

Responses in italics.

An update on my progress through listening to the sixteen listed bands

• Amon Amarth 0%
• Arsis 26%
• Before the Dawn 65%
• Blood Stain Child 100%
• Dark Tranquillity 1%
• DevilDriver 15%
• Disarmonia Mundi 100%
• Eternal Tears of Sorrow 15%
• In Flames 100%
• In Vain 56%
• Insomnium 100%
• Ne Obliviscaris 0%
• Neaera 42%
• Omnium Gatherum 30%
• Swallow the Sun 20%
• Words of Farewell 100%

Finally got all the way through In Flames! Though it may be very uncool for me to say so, I think that Come Clarity is definitely my favourite outing by them because it hearkened back to their actual melodeath tendencies while retaining that modern influence without most of the awkward fluff, like the the nu, the metalcore, and what have you, of Reroute to Remain. Hell, it even lacked most of the synth and, apart from the title track, just rocked most of the way through (though I will admit that the 'melodeath tendencies' I mentioned might not necessarily be all that reminiscent of their pre-Reroute recordings). Even so, I still consider said title track to be the most powerful of their alternative metal numbers. Maybe some of that favouritism comes from nostalgia, but I definitely think that it is an improvement over Soundtrack to Your Escape in pretty much every way.

A Sense of Purpose didn't feel like it had much going for it, and brought back more of the metalcore while losing some of its aggression. Here, a more prominent synth might have done them some good so that it could stand up against all of the rest of the modern melodeath of today, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. What it did have, though, was "The Chosen Pessimist," which was a straight post-metal song, and a damned good one at that. From this, I can tell that In Flames definitely have something to offer to the progressive underground, and I'd love to hear them do more of it, but I doubt that they'll tread on those grounds again.

However, Sounds of a Playground Fading shows some promise of its own, and at the very least, it stands to reason that In Flames could become one hell of a competent alternative metal outfit, with or without melodeath influence. Nevertheless, this feels like a transitional album by a band that still doesn't feel all that safe with all the synth, the strings, or the mainstream ballading. "Jester's Door" suggests that they're juggling the possibilities of electro-industrial and how it could change their sound (seriously, the end of this track could have been on one of the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soundtracks), but as of right now, I suppose they'd rather keep it to intermissions. "A New Dawn" adds a violin to the mix, and thus, this track is a favourite off of this album for me. I think their next album could very well signal their next great change. I, for one, am watching closely.

Before the Dawn's Soundscape of Silence is like an extension of Deadlight: nothing new here, but that's okay because Deadlight was fucking awesome and so is its successor. Not quite as good, but still enough to make me happy.

Now, on to Dark Tranquillity! \m/

Aside from all of that, sorry for my absence lately; kinda got caught up playing Resistance: Fall of Man over the past week. Excuse me for being about six years late to that party, but let's just say that I liked it enough to order he Collector's Edition of its sequel before I even got all the way through the campaign. :3

IX Leviathan, I'll get to your recs soon.

As always, thanks a bunch! \m/

Has anyone mentioned Deathevokation - The Chalice of Ages yet? It's more traditional death metal but with tons of melody in it.

A few sample tracks. They might be too death metal for what you're seeking, but they're worth a listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GglR77abjr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLxEtwJ ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqfBKqtq ... ure=relmfu

What might be more up your alley is Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor. They're proggy with their songwriting but the sound is more or less straight melodeath. The earlier EPs/demos lack the progginess of the full-length. Avoid Gloria.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNrJAPNwQe0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reBf2eNZpKA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnPYYotRqYM

3 posts up man, I already mentioned them. Then again, I'm already guilty of mentioning an aforementioned band in this thread so I'm not in much of a position to call anyone out on it, lol.

I've got a band that hasn't been mentioned by anyone yet!

Loch Vostok

It's progressive melodic death metal. Very politically oriented, but Dystopium is one catchy album!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLM10zNzVUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1m2Kms4NDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uorf3HqiBA

Pretty neat first post. Thanks.

Not sure if you've checked these guys out but you could try 'The Absence', US based melo-death metal. I used to listen to them alot about 7-8 years back.

By the way, once again, if MA wants to use any of these logos on the actual archive, please notify me. They're in compilation images in the OP right now, but I'll provide each one standalone so that we can avoid having to go through the process of separating each logo. I'd update the archives myself, but I don't have Veteran status yet.

I just updated three of them.

Responses in italics.

I must apologise for how long this has taken. I've been busy. No listening update this time, I'm afraid. But I'm glad that I came back for these awesome recs.

I don't know if this band has been mentioned yet, but check out Uninvited

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pY0W0uI ... ure=g-hist

Response in italics.

Veiled In Scarlet released their debut album this year. It's very good melodeath with a strong neoclassical edge. They are related to another japanese band, Serpent, who have already released a few albums.

Desire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWrio6Kri5E

Eventide could be likened to Mercenary or Scar Symmetry in that clean vocals are very prominent, making them sound like a power metal band at times. They remind me quite a bit of Evergrey.

The Beast And The Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&featu ... Pa6UZX2Z3o
Mr Death (more power metal than melodeath to be honest)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO58LX1I ... ure=relmfu

My compatriots Darkemist make some cool gothenburg-esque melodeath with atmospheric keyboards.
Failing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLP-p91jaA

I hope you like these reccomendations man. You really made a good effort with this thread!

Responses in italics.

Listening progress for the seventeen listed bands

• Amon Amarth 0%
• Arsis 26%
• Before the Dawn 87%
• Blood Stain Child 100%
• Dark Tranquillity 8%
• Disarmonia Mundi 100%
• Eternal Tears of Sorrow 15%
• In Flames 100%
• In Mourning 19%
• In Vain 56%
• Insomnium 100%
• Loch Vostok 26%
• Ne Obliviscaris 0%
• Neaera 42%
• Omnium Gatherum 30%
• Swallow the Sun 20%
• Words of Farewell 100%

This is quite late in coming, since I listened to Dark Tranquillity's Skydancer weeks before, but I have to say that it was a far more enjoyable listening experience than I expected an album of its age to be for someone as young as I am. I still feel that I've yet to traverse DT's greatest works, but this was a treat, especially for its epic "Shadow Duet." I felt that it definitely outclassed In Flames' Lunar Strain in all aspects.

Before the Dawn continue to impress me, though I felt that Deathstar Rising was much more of a gothic metal album than its two direct predecessors, and was a tad less spectacular for it. It did improve the closer it got to the end, though. Despite this, "Winter Within" is definitely the highlight off this album for me. With that, I am finally on the brink of Rise of the Phoenix, from which only a small portion of its content was needed to convince me to delve into this band completely. This act has evolved quite respectably. \m/

I also went through the most recent albums of both Loch Vostok and In Mourning over the past two days, and I am sold on both. Loch Vostok wasn't quite as eargasm-inducing overall as I speculated them to be before hearing the whole album, but it is still nonetheless one of the highest-rated works in my library as of right now. I came in to In Mourning with more modest expectations, but I was certainly not disappointed with their progressive, melodic, slightly post-metal-influenced form of death/doom that still manages to carry doom's melancholic tendencies. I look forward to hearing more. \m/

I suppose that as long as I keep this thread alive, I'll never be done considering melodeath recs, despite saying so upon my total acquisition of thirteen bands. Now, I have seventeen.

Whatever, music is music. Let them come!

A further note on the logos



Speaking on tweaks, a lot of said logos have been updated and/or fixed. Some of the larger ones are also in the highest resolutions that Photobucket will allow. Before, I was arbitrarily scaling them down in order to minimise the amount of image compilations, but then, I thought, "Why, oh why, would I do this?" I think they look better now.

• Most images not already displayed at maximum possible size that Photobucket allows before are now doing so. All images that were scaled down for some reason are also a bit larger.
• Added In Mourning and Loch Vostok.
• In Vain, Swallow the Sun, and Words of Farewell have been tweaked, replaced, and updated respectively (though Words of Farewell may still require some work).

I have only known this band for 24 hours, (thanks again to Empyreal), but you should check out Vehemence. http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Veh ... 48#Reviews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NNCoif_6FQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULFjFKiTJXM

Anterior is a British band with two albums out. I remember putting Dead Divine on a CD I burned and then had no idea what song or who it was by... for some reason I kept looking at Light This City. The sound and even vocals are quite similar, even though Anterior's vocalist is a male and LTC's is a female.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RZRaVWy45Y

Speaking of Light This City, these guys are also quite good. Even though the MA pages lists them as 'metalcore', I think the -core elements are much less noticeable. Oh and, female vocalist who sounds better than Angela Gossow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA7f5VwZFAI

Can you hear why I thought Anterior was Light This City?

I'm glad you liked Loch Vostok. Dystopium was an album I came across by accident and it was one of those happy accidents. I really can't think of any band that sounds like them. Mercenary is close, with the clean vocals and melodic death elements. They also reminded me of Ewigkeit even though that band is more on the black (or 'dark') metal side of things - however I did get into these guys strangely enough by asking about similar bands to Sybreed.

Sybreed is a very modern sounding industrial/groove band but they have lots of melodic death metal elements. I think they are a bit reduced on recent albums though...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZUh_Q3YJaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBKZ5bsMwpw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AseSEwT3Ys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUN7ZdsRAGQ

If you happen to like these guys, I did find a band that's pretty much Sybreed worship. Neurotech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD5HaTthpaI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7P9yqQdj10 (this has a link to download the album for free from the band)

And now for a recommendation that may be quite difficult to track down ... it certainly was for me! Aftershock, this band is basically Killswitch Engage's predecessor and Adam Dutkiewicz' first band. They have two albums out and an EP, and it's excellent melodic death metal/metalcore.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MVtlQYdOgQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AOjt9tsRZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AVSR4kA6yI

Responses in italics.

Listening update to come soon.

Solerrain maybe? Might be too power metal for you, though.

Here's a track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjaxo_fdKF0

Response in italics.

Listening progress for the seventeen listed bands

• Amon Amarth 0%
• Arsis 26%
• Before the Dawn 100%
• Blood Stain Child 100%
• Dark Tranquillity 15%
• Disarmonia Mundi 100%
• Eternal Tears of Sorrow 15%
• In Flames 100%
• In Mourning 19%
• In Vain 100%
• Insomnium 100%
• Loch Vostok 26%
• Ne Obliviscaris 0%
• Neaera 42%
• Omnium Gatherum 30%
• Swallow the Sun 20%
• Words of Farewell 100%

Dark Tranquillity continue to impress me with their first true opus, The Gallery. While still not entirely in line with my tastes simply due to the fact that I come from a completely different generation, it is one of a couple of records that prove that DT's older material is agreeable even to young ones such as I. I can see why this is considered one of melodeath's archetypal documents.

Meanwhile, Before the Dawn blow me away by proving that they can outclass all that they had released previously even as they eschew one of their long-standing musical influences (or perhaps because of it). Rise of the Phoenix was a straight melodeath record with little or no gothic metal influence in anything but its lyrical content. It is a masterpiece from beginning to end and for this, I am excited to hear more from them in the coming years.

In Vain's The Latter Rain was one of the highest-rated, if not the highest-rated, albums in my library for damned good reason. I am not sure that they exceeded this with Mantra, but they definitely matched its predecessor in quality while simultaneously becoming slightly more varied. Their wild western sensibilities seem to have increased here, this still throwing me for a loop since I would have never expected this from Scandinavians. Now, both of them are the highest-rated albums in my library. True masterpieces, these.

DT will be a long journey, but I am finally making ground, I think.

Listening progress for the seventeen listed bands

Most bands with no progress have been reset in order to better my listening experience and to assign fairer ratings. This basically applied to all acts to which I had not listened to in their entirety except Dark Tranquillity, since they are where I left off.
In the case of Blood Stain Child and Disarmonia Mundi, I listened to all of their main catalogues, but they are not at 100% because of the album, Princess Ghibli by the Imaginary Flying Machines collaborative project.

I must apologise first for the gravedig and second for letting this go as I did. Life just got super busy, is all. Such is Army life for you.

But I never intended to let it die forever, at least until I had listened to and rated my entire melodeath catalogue. That said, I'm still taking recs. Thank you all once again.

I haven't read the whole thread but assuming you're into melodeath from Sweden and that Sacrilege has been mentioned before, and given that you've liked them, you may want to try Nocturnal Winds' debut album. Also Path Of Debris' sophomore album if you want something similar to Amon Amarth's debut album.

Got any particular songs to recommend?

• Dark Tranquillity | 51% | TBD (so far: 4.2)

You could say that I'm focusing on DT quite vehemently: I made it through Enter Suicidal Angels, The Mind's I, Projector, Haven, Damage Done, and the first disc of Exposures - In Retrospect and Denial.

Enter Suicidal Angels isn't much to talk about. It serves as a suitable companion to The Mind's I though and offered the first of a couple of surprises for me: "Archetype." Who knew that DT ever actually created a breakcore number? It isn't as archetypal as its name would suggest, but it threw me for a loop, I'll give it that.

The Mind's I itself was riddled with an alarming amount of short, sub-three-minute songs, which was a shame because most of them were pretty damned good for miniature offerings. But then, the true appeal came in the form of its longer songs. One can always rest assured that when DT decide to break the six-minute mark (or approach it), it's going to be something special. "Hedon" and "Insanity's Crescendo" were easily the highlights on this album, especially the latter for its female vocal track, quiet introduction, and epic solemnity. Ultimately, I coloured at as appealing as The Gallery.

And then we come to Projector, and the second surprise...

I had no idea before today that Dark Tranquillity had ever, at any point, been an accomplished gothic metal band. This was perhaps their greatest departure from the genre they helped to pioneer, and was only barely a melodeath record, shedding much of the associated bombast in favour of more modest gothic metal structures and Stanne's previously unused and delightfully competent operatic vocal abilities. For a third surprise, "Auctioned" demonstrated to me that there was once a Dark Tranquillity that created a non-instrumental song completely devoid of Stanne's rasp (something that would later be true in a bonus track called "In Sight" from their Haven era), and also served as the greatest among many demonstrations of the keyboards that would pretty much make their sound from then on. They weren't bad for a gothic metal outfit, but honestly, I was happy when they showed signs of returning to melodeath on Haven.

Now, Haven was also quite gothic, but there was a bit more of that driving melodeath force coming back to balance it out, a mixture resulting in what I feel is their best record during their mid-years. The songs shrunk and became more concise, most failing to break the four-minute mark, but that's okay because that just meant that the songwriting naturally tightened up, and everything seemed to just fall neatly into place. "The Wonders at Your Feet" is a goddamned classic and the album really couldn't have been kicked off better. It became the first part of a "one-two-three" collection of nigh-perfect songs along with "Not Built to Last" and "Indifferent Suns." The best part is that, that initial sense of fulfilment doesn't die there, only becoming more emotive throughout the title track, the lengthier "Ego Drama," and the excitingly more monolithic "At Loss for Words," for which my previous statements about DT's six-minute mark easily apply. Stanne's rasp is noticeably lower in pitch throughout. I'm not sure why he took that route on this and Damage Done, but it's not like it detracts from the experience by any means.

Damage Done is where we eschew much of the gothic influence and go back to good ol' pounding melodeath. It is here that we begin to hear scant traces of the progressive, contemplative, spacey, ambient-driven sound that DT would come to perfect on subsequent albums. But for now, the focus is a more on drama--the good kind. The kind that you don't feel pleasurably guilty for running with, just pleasurable. I'd say that "Hours Passed in Exile" was the song most of note here, though its follower, "Monochromatic Stains," stood pretty damned tall as well. I felt the same about "Format C: for Cortex," as well as everything from "Cathode Ray Sunshine" onward. I rated Haven just slightly higher, but I'd call this record irreplaceable regardless.

I don't usually tend to take to bonus tracks as well because there's typically a reason why they're bonus tracks and b-sides rather than actual album tracks. But that's not the case here since everything on Exposures - In Retrospect and Denial struck my fancy in some way or another. Even the old demo tracks, with their lower production values and looser instrumentation. I'm starting to think that there was never a time when DT were anything but some of the most accomplished lyricists I've ever known.

Anxiously looking forward to Character. \m/

Sure!

First three songs of the album in order should give you a proper idea of what it sounds like, plus the first half of the album is its best:

Nocturnal Winds - Maid From the Abyss
Nocturnal Winds - Touch Me
Nocturnal Winds - Son of the Winterstorm

Probably the best songs of the album:

Path of Debris - The Eyes of the Basilisk
Path of Debris - Flight Of The Valkyries
Path of Debris - Destiny
Path of Debris - Stormrider

Let me know what you think of them.

Responses in italics.

• Dark Tranquillity | 59.35% | TBD (4.3)
• Loch Vostok | 52.38% | TBD (4.4)

I listened to Loch Vostok's Dark Logic today. Per song, it was a good piece of work, beginning in a rather average, unrefined manner and getting better as I neared the end. However, the songs didn't feel as if they meshed together well, ultimately only comprising an album because they are included on a common disc with a name. Still, for a first outing, it is an impressive piece of work and worthy entry into the progressive fold, if not so much the melodeath fold.

I only got through Dark Tranquillity's Lost to Apathy today. Its namesake song, I feel, was by no means their most remarkable, but the experimentations going on in its other studio tracks provided more to interest me. The EP is less remarkable for what makes it up as it is for what it serves as: a nice little prelude to Character.

I would have listened to Character today and got set to doing so, but early on, I noticed that all of the tracks that I had for it were several seconds shorter than they were supposed to be. I guess that happens sometimes. I set about replacing them, but in the meantime, I decided to move on to Loch Vostok's Destruction Time Again! instead.

This one was a bit more tolerable, and I imagine that, that had something to do with the increased prevalence of driving melodeath elements here. Not until its fourth track does it slow down a bit to catch its breath and go back to the band's preference for progressive metal. Throughout, I heard more varied influences, from melodic metalcore to alternative metal, but neither were prevalent enough to really label the work as such. Despite that, unless Reveal No Secrets outclasses it, this is likely their most power metal-influenced record (stylistically speaking--much of the lyrical content here is hardly empowering). Unfortunately, what was true for Dark Logic does not apply here; in fact, it is the opposite: the album starts strong, but loses momentum later. It reaches its highlight in "Symbiosis" and then seems to go uninspired through the motions until it kicks back up again somewhat during "Gestalt" in order to close respectably. There was a higher concentration of noteworthy tracks on this one than its predecessor, so it is thus rated somewhat higher. I am hoping that their next album manages to finally mesh better.

I agree with your reasoning, they're both clearly second tier bands but I do think they have one pretty solid album each that warrants some attention. Nocturnal Winds is actually old school melodeath that doesn't suck, which says a lot, and Path Of Debris is a quirky middle of the road band in death metal that is overly melodic but still has a decent gritty feel. I like very much and own both albums, but then again I am a big (!) death metal fan and I like a lot of stuff within that realm, even though some are indeed not top tier.

I'd say give both albums half a dozen spins, they might entice you more after a bit.

• Arsis | 22.37% | TBD (4.8)
• Dark Tranquillity | 76.64% | TBD (4.3)
• Loch Vostok | 73.81% | TBD (4.4)

For Dark Tranquillity, I finally managed my way through Character, Fiction, and Yesterworlds, the latter being halfway comprised of tracks previously released on Exposures - In Retrospect and Denial. That said, very competent material. I was again impressed by the quality of even the older recordings.

But Character was truly an album of magnificence. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't much more progressive than its predecessor, and still comes across more or less as a pure melodeath album with the very scant synth break. Quite simply, it was an album that just rocked all the way through, being an improvement in every regard over said predecessor, already magnificent in its own right. One hears the Fiction era to come in "The Endless Feed," possibly the highlight for it, though facing heavy competition from "Out of Nothing" and "My Negation."

And then, finally, we arrive at Fiction itself, regarded for good reason as their ultimate outing among their more modern records. It was a new experience to listen to it after preceding it with all of their previous work, but it only made it all the more delectable because now, I feel as if I understand what it must have been like to be following DT (and melodeath in general) for years and suddenly have them release something so different, yet containing so much of the same all at once. It is indisputable as a melodeath record, yet sounds like it exists light years away from everything else in the genre. Such can be heard in tracks like "Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)," its penultimate track with its synthy backdrop that supports driving melodeath riffs moving frantically, but in a strange way that fools the listener into thinking that it's only a mid-tempo song while taking them away to strange, spacey worlds every time. "Icipher" demonstrates that they can incorporate the keyboard that they built their music on during their gothic years while leaving out the gothic entirely. But the true climax comes "Inside the Particle Storm," in all likelihood DT's most atmospheric and apocalyptic track, pulling off such a world-destroying sense of doom with nothing but one or two simple ambient background tracks and a relatively simple melody. I find it breathtaking every time I hear it and it's another one of those mysteries that make this album so damned awesome. Between those and the fact that this is quite simply the most varied collection of songs DT has yet produced, this album has more than earned its place as my favourite melodeath album and stands in itself as justification for DT's place as my favourite out of the seventeen bands listed at the very least, even if the numbers suggest otherwise.

After I finished up with Fiction, I took a break to go to work this week. I took the opportunity today to move on to Loch Vostok's Reveal No Secrets, which I rated just a hair lower than its predecessor because it basically exhibited similar problems that their debut had: a weak beginning, followed by a stronger ending. With the exception of its best track, "Energy Taboo," its first half seemed lacking, even if each song, individually, was of more than amiable quality. It was written such that it feels more concise, despite being of comparable length to the rest of their works, and yet, it still seems a bit loose as a collection of tracks. There was something off about the production too: the vocals sound low in the mix and the guitars sounded distant, but all-pervasive at the same time. Perhaps I have some low-quality files? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Still, this was more of a melodic death metal record through and through, still showing subtle, yet even less obvious hints of a metalcore edge while losing entirely the barbarity of the pure death metal elements that used to dot their soundscapes. One can just barely hear some alternative metal here, and it's not an unwelcome territory to tread. I will be licking my chops at Dystopium, followed by its newly-released successor.

I had just enough time to spin another record and, deciding that I wanted something more abrasive and technical, I chose Arsis' debut, A Celebration of Guilt. This... was an impressive piece of work, especially for a debut, quite possibly because Arsis meld the technical and melodic so well that it falls into both territories equally. But no, it's more likely just because it's all metal, no bullshit, melting your face off from the beginning and keeping it up all the way to the end, leaving cracks in your very skull. Though "The Face of My Innocence" calls to me because it was the very first Arsis track I ever had the pleasure of experiencing years ago, there aren't necessarily any individual highlights here because, while there are no segues, each track nevertheless feels like it is part of a much greater whole, and there are no odd or out-of-place specimens. I truly appreciated this, and rated it much higher than I anticipated myself doing.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get through the last of DT (so far). Eagerly looking forward to it. \m/

Listening progress for the seventeen listed bands

(It's a link now, click if interested.)

I continued through Arsis with their exquisite EP, A Diamond for Disease, followed by United in Regret. Both were astonishing works, though I've little to say of the latter save that the general production was a tad cleaner in the guitars and the vocals. It is just as good as their début, exhibiting much of the same technical proficiency and general awesomeness. It was also very concise, being Arsis' shortest full-length. The only real standout track is their cover of Depeche Mode's "The Things You Said." Having not heard the original, I cannot definitively say exactly how much justice (or lack thereof) this cover does to it, suffice to say that it is a slight change of pace and atmospherics for Arsis on a record that is played mostly at a face-melting pace. I found it welcome.

But "A Diamond for Disease" is the true winner here. One can always appreciate fruitful ambition such as this, especially when it is so impossibly well-done. It took the band a few years to finally play this live in its entirety, and for damned good reason: this is a tech-death behemoth that raises the bar insanely high and remains my favourite tech-death song in general. That said, I doubt that Arsis themselves could ever top this again. Phenomenal.

I finally made it through Dark Tranquillity. It took a minute to get to We Are the Void because I had to move through their live album, Where Death Is Most Alive and vintage live compilation The Dying Fragments first, the former being a surprising treat that let me experience some of their older works played with all of the experience they had gained since the decade or so since they last touched them, and the latter being difficult to appreciate due to the extremely muffled quality of the recordings. But it was worth the wait, for We Are the Void, I feel, was damned solid as an album, more ambitious than Fiction, if not quite as remarkable.

Here, they take another baby step into that progressive sound they've found themselves in lately while throwing in some grandiosity and almost-orchestral ambience more prominent in symphonic black metal. The album is filled with echoic room effects, most apparent in the keys. It also represents a noticeable lapse back into their gothic metal tendencies from a decade ago (especially when you hit the middle tracks, such as "At the Point of Ignition," "Her Silent Language," and "Arkhangelsk," the latter being a textbook exercise in metallic ominousness), such passages being as prominent here as their melodeath ones. Per DT's characteristic finesse, no element seems overblown or detrimental to the other, though it could be said that they chose grandiosity over the contradictingly chaotic, brooding spaciness that made Fiction so special. Which is not to say that this should have been another Fiction. It's just not as good, even if it is still goddamn amazing.

One does see great promise in DT's future if the Tour Edition/Zero Distance EP bonus tracks are any indication thereof. It's like everything DT was on We Are the Void, except that the keyboarding is really fleshed out, the melodeath/gothic/progressive/scant electronic tidbits are more perfectly melded than they ever have been, and they even seem to be playing a little with passages that seem structurally folkish with "Out of Gravity," but they, like any element that they employ, are cautious, being just prominent enough to be noticeable and welcome without detracting from the rest. "Star of Nothingness" is also a much more effective space intermission than Fiction's "Winter Triangle" was, leading admirably "To Where Fires Cannot Feed."

Overall, I am glad that I took the time to finally run through all of DT's material. It took a damned long time, but it was more than worth it. I am literally frothing at the mouth for the next, sorely overdue, full-length album. \m/

Meanwhile, I spun Loch Vostok's Dystopium for the second time and my impression is this: MUCH better! This was an album that flowed satisfactorily from the beginning, all the way to the end, incorporating some pretty obvious mainstream elements, such as melodic metalcore and alternative metal, to create something accessible and palatable at the same time, allowing them to tread into new territories while simultaneously bringing back more of their straight death metal abrasiveness and losing none of their melodeath prowess. The power metal grandiosity is also gone, Möller leaving behind those awkwardly-placed high notes. The album stands, in my opinion, as proof that accessibility does not mean selling out, and indicates to me that Loch Vostok have finally figured out their own sound, so to speak. I hope they continue down this path on V: the Doctrine Decoded, of which Dystopium convinced me as a wise and worthwhile digital investment. \m/

In other news, I reset In Flames when I happened to listen to some of their songs recently, only to find that perhaps I had not rated them fairly. At first, their lower score compared to the rest made some sense, but more recently, I am thinking differently. I will go through their discography again, and though I don't expect an experience as mind-blowing as DT, I imagine that it will click with me in ways that it didn't the first time. Being that I already ran through them once, however, it's not going to be something that I place my primary focus on.